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Adélie penguins in the Ross Sea

Adélie penguins are the southernmost breeding penguins in the world and 38 percent of them make their home in the Ross Sea. Check out our slideshow below, celebrating the lives and times of these amazing birds!

Adélie penguins are one of only two species of true Antarctic penguins and they are the southernmost breeding birds in the world. Photo by John B. Weller.

Adélies breed on Antarctica’s few patches of bare ground – pinprick islands and rock outcrops. They return, for the most part, to the same colonies where they were born. Photo by John B. Weller.

They make their nests from the very same pebbles that their ancestors have used for thousands of years. The ancient ceremonies of moving, stealing, and rearranging the sharp volcanic pebbles have worn them smooth. Photo by John B. Weller.

The raucous voices of thousands of penguins roars through the colony as they court and squabble. Photo by John B. Weller.

One penguin stays on the nest with the egg while the other heads out to sea to find fish. They often walk in groups, sometimes traveling over 40 miles to find open water. Photo by John B. Weller.

Throngs of Adélie penguins rocket past the edges of the ice just under the surface, trailing long bridal-veils of white bubbles in the cerulean blue, feasting on small fish and krill. Photo by John B. Weller.

An Adélie penguin launches itself out of the water and onto the ice, accelerating before the edge to decrease the possibility of providing a meal for potentially lurking leopard seals. Photo by John B. Weller.

Bellies full of fish, hunting parties start a long walk back to the Cape Royds colony. Photo by John B. Weller.

By 2050, scientists estimate that overall loss of ice habitat due to climate change will displace nearly half of the emperor penguin colonies and 75% of the Adélie penguin colonies around Antarctica. Photo by John B. Weller.